19 Years Later
by HermioneMalfoy79
Summary: Hermione and Draco return to London 19 years later just in time for their son to start at Hogwarts.


**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter, names, and places are copyright JK Rowling. No profit is being made from this fanfiction.

**Pairing:** Draco/Hermione, Ron/Lavender, Ginny/Harry

**Summary: **Hermione and Draco return to London 19 years later just in time for their son to start at Hogwarts.

**Setting: **Draco and Hermione are married. Scorpius is featured as their son.

**x-x-x-x-x  
**

**19 Years Later**

It's been almost two decades since Draco and Hermione stepped foot into King's Cross Station in London, England. It'd also been almost two decades since either of them had even been to London, or the country for that matter. And it's been almost two decades since they had last seen any of their former classmates and old friends.

It all started back after the war when Hogswarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been reopened and all students were given the opportunity to repeat their year that they either missed or didn't do well with during the war. Among the students were Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger who wanted a chance to take seventh year and get their N.E.W.T.s. It had been that year that they had both changed after the war and, Draco especially, had changed their views on life and the wizarding world. It all started with a simple gesture of apology on Draco's part and from there, Hermione had seen that the war affected him in a positive manner and that he was no longer the boy who had bullied her and her friends throughout their Hogwarts years. He'd become a man on a road to redemption and Hermione found herself becoming attracted to him the better she got to know him.

Hermione and Ron had become a couple after the war, but Hermione had found that it was rather one-sided on his part. She couldn't help but feel he was more of a friend than a lover, which had made her unsure about what to do with the situation. It was hard given the expectations that the two of them be together just as Harry and Ginny were so Hermione had just let it be while she was off to Hogwarts for the year, hoping that that the time apart would give her a chance to think about things. However, that turned into even more conflict when she found herself falling for this new Draco who had become more than just her study partner, but also her friend and confident. She had felt more compatible with him than she had felt with Ron; they were alike in many ways from their intellect to their motivations. She had confided in him about what she had done for her parents during the war and found that Draco had done the same to keep his parents, especially his mother, but in much different ways. They also had many of the same interests and the sparks and tingles they felt every time they came into some sort of physical contact could not be ignored.

She knew what she had to do, even if her feelings for Draco were unrequited. She knew that it was unfair for Ron to string him along when her heart was belonging to another. The breakup during the Christmas holidays hadn't been easy and it hurt that Ron felt he couldn't even look at her as a friend anymore and he, and Harry as well as the Weasleys, were appalled at thought of her friendship with Draco. It had made the atmosphere at the Burrow very awkward, even with Ginny, who had already seen her interactions with Draco at school and assumed they'd been partnered in classes. It got to the point that halfway through the holidays, Mrs. Weasley had politely suggested that she visit some other friends for the remainder of the time. Hermione knew that meant that she had to leave and had no place to go so she had decided to stay at the Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione hadn't planned on running into Draco in Diagon Alley; she had been hoping to spend the rest of the holiday alone to figure out what to do about her feelings. He was surprised that she had broken up with Ron and was excused from the Burrow. He refused to have her spend the rest of the time at the Leaky Cauldron so he invited her to stay at the Manor with him since his parents had spent the holidays away and he was alone except for the house-elves.

They'd had a lot of fun together, except during the times when she got upset about the house-elves that he could do nothing about since he was not the master of the Manor yet, but appeased her by saying that one day he would like do something about it. She'd been pleasantly surprised to find out that Draco did in fact return her feelings when he drunkenly confessed to her on New Year's Eve and with a kiss that lead to much more that night. Hermione woke up feeling sated and a little sore, but safe in his warm arms the next morning. She'd been a little wary about what would happen between them next. Was it all just a drunken mistake? Did he regret it? Should she regret it? Her thoughts were quickly pulled away when he woke up and made love to her again and again throughout the morning. It turned out that it was neither a mistake nor a regret for either of them and Draco had asked her to be his girlfriend.

Hermione had been a bit concerned about them being a couple. After the war, with his and his family's role during Voldemort's reign of terror, he wasn't on very good terms with his former acquaintances or the school and public in general. The Gryffindors, the Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws whispered about him to their friends while glaring or turning their nose up to him in the hallways and classrooms. He was pleased when many just chose to ignore his existence, just wanting to get through his last year of school. The other Slytherins rarely socialized with him as many still maintained their old beliefs while he was reforming himself, which made him an embarrassment to them and they considered him a traitor for it. They had looked down upon him for his change of heart and things were often tense at school and he took the time to avoid them as much as possible. They had taunted him and mocked him for his being seen with Hermione and she feared the worst that could happen if they were seen as a couple.

And then there were his parents. Narcissa had been more affected by the war than Lucius and while she was like Draco and began to have a different view on things, tradition was still an important part of her family. Lucius was more vocal about it and had told Draco during the summer before his return to Hogwarts and through letters that he was still expected to keep the bloodlines pure despite the change of beliefs throughout the wizarding war in this new era.

However, Draco didn't care about any of that. If his and Hermione's happiness and feelings meant anything, they would be able to deal with it when the time came and they could keep it secret for the time being. Hermione had tried to make the most out of their forbidden relationship but it all changed that early spring when he told her he loved her and she happily returned the words. That secured it for her and she told him she no longer wanted to keep it secret; she was happy with the person he was becoming and proud to be called his girlfriend.

When the secret came out and they openly showed themselves as a couple, the whole school had been stunned. No longer was Draco just a traitor, he was now a blood traitor. Hermione had also been called a traitor by her fellow Gryffindors and other house classmates and degrading names by the Slytherins. She didn't let it get her down, now knowing who her true friends were. Ginny had refused to speak to her, and she'd gotten a Howler on more than one occasion from Mrs. Weasley which Professor McGonagall quickly put a stop to because of the disturbance it caused. Rita Skeeter had had a field day printing articles about them until, finally, Lucius put a stop to it with whatever connections he still had. He would not stand for such an embarrassment towards his family. It had triggered a meeting with Draco in Hogsmeade where Lucius had demanded he stop his rebellion and nonsense. Draco refused to back down. Being with Hermione had helped him in many ways, including the ability to stand up for himself against the people he was once afraid of.

It'd been just before the N.E.W.T.s had started that Lucius had requested another meeting and threatened to disinherit Draco. When Hermione found out, she'd been distraught knowing how important inheritance was in many pureblooded families like his. She'd broken up with him and if it hadn't been for studying and exams, neither would have been able to keep sane for the first couple of weeks. It was after school finished that it really hit them that they weren't together.

Hermione was still not welcomed at the Burrow and spent the first week of summer at the Leaky Cauldron. It'd been another week after that that Draco had finally found her and told her he couldn't be apart from her any longer. She'd felt the same way but she said she couldn't allow him to lose everything because of her. He didn't care though and told her of the fight he'd had with his father just days ago about it and how Lucius threatened that if he left the Manor to go back to her then it was over for him. By the time Draco found her, he'd already been disinherited, except for a comfortable inheritance he had from his mother's side of the family that Lucius was not aware of or unable to have access to.

They'd spent the afternoon holed up in her room as she shed tears for him and he proved to her to over and over again how she means more to him than anything, even the inheritance he'd looked forward to most of his life. They had reconciled after that and went public again with their relationship. It wasn't long after that that everything started happening again and they often got sneers from former classmates as they walked hand-in-hand through Diagon Alley. Draco had been burned off of the Malfoy family tapestry and as his final act of defiance, he'd taken his mother's maiden name instead.

Ginny and her family would give her dirty looks whenever they saw her and even the open-minded George, Arthur, and Bill would shake their heads sadly at her. Harry had looked as if he wanted to talk to her, but would turn away as soon as Molly, Ron, or Ginny glanced his way or he caught sight of Draco with her. Hermione also soon learned who her real friends were. Only Luna, Neville, and Hannah Abbott, who was newly employed at the Leaky Cauldron, would talk to her and accept her being with Draco.

Narcissa had met secretly with them a few times and assured Draco that she still loved him and hoped that one day Lucius would get over it. She had been polite to Hermione who had soon found out that the woman who had lied to Voldemort wasn't really a bad person at all, though she still had some flaws that were hard to let go of. Knowing that Draco was happy was enough for Narcissa to accept their relationship and she told them not to worry about what others thought and to live their life the way they want to. Her biggest regret would be trying to stop her son from being happy and finding the love he deserves.

As their first summer together had progressed, Hermione still had her parents on her mind and she wasn't sure how to go about it. When she talked to Draco about it to get his opinion, he'd suggested that the two of them go to Australia and find them. It was nice to get away from the nasty looks and articles published they got about them. It'd taken about a month, but they found her parents located in the outback of the country, travelling with a tour group.

Things went surprisingly well when she finally got their memories placed back together after a few different attempts. While Richard and Alice Granger were upset about her tampering with their memories, they quickly began to understand after she explained with Draco's help. They had told her parents all the hard truths about how it'd been like on both sides of the war and soon Alice was in tears, hugging them both while Richard was a bit unsure about Hermione's relationship with Draco. Hermione quickly reassured her father that Draco wasn't the same boy she used to complain about in letters and during the holidays. Trusting his daughter's good judgement that they had taught her well, he'd patted Draco on the back and welcomed him in to their little family.

The Grangers really loved Australia for everything that it was and decided they had wanted to stay and continue their dentistry and opened their own office in Sydney. Draco and Hermione were easily convinced to stay when they learned of a university that was offered in Wizarding Sydney. They had gone back to London just long enough to have everything transferred from their Gringotts accounts and for Draco to say goodbye to his mother who would later visit them a couple of times a year. Afterwards, they had moved in with Hermione's parents who lived quite close to Wizarding Sydney. They had applied to the university and both got into the wizarding law courses. Draco got more into wizarding family law while Hermione took more interest in the laws for magical creatures, something that was more practised in Australia. During this time, Draco proposed to Hermione.

When they finished their university, they quickly got jobs at the Australian Ministry of Magic, now able to earn a living on their own. They had found a nice flat in Wizarding Sydney in a Muggle-friendly zone so that her parents could visit them anytime. It wasn't long after that that Draco and Hermione got married and Draco had done something shocking.

He'd learned that traditions in the Muggle world were always changing. Muggle women sometimes kept their maiden names or had their married names added on with a hyphen. Sometimes Muggle men did the same or just took their wife's last name. Draco thought it was rather odd at first, but then he liked the idea of taking Hermione's last name and leaving everything else behind him. Hermione found it oddly thrilling that Draco would want to break his family's traditions even further by doing this. However, she confessed that she still liked the idea of naming any children they had after constellations like the Black family had done for many generations and Draco had agreed to that.

So Draco had become Draco Granger which made him feel proud. He'd also hoped that if Lucius ever caught wind of it that it'd kick him where it hurts. They had a great married life together and soon Hermione got pregnant with their first child.

Scorpius Hyperion Granger was born in November 2006 and they knew from the start that they wanted their son to experience Hogwarts. He would be like Hermione and start a year later and be almost a year older than the rest of the children because of his birthday. Two years later, little Carina Andromeda Granger was born. Draco had wanted to name her in honor of his Aunt Andromeda who he had never formally met, but had more in common with than the rest of his family.

Now Scorpius was on his way to start his first year at Hogwarts. Hermione, Draco, and the kids left Australia and Hermione's parents behind, with the promise to visit every holiday, and moved back to London. They lived in a nice house that borders the Muggle and Wizarding world so that Carina could continue at a Muggle primary school until she started Hogwarts and Draco and Hermione could transfer to the law department at London's Ministry of Magic. They'd be starting in the next week after Scorpius was off to Hogwarts and Carina was settled in her new school.

As they crossed the Platform 9¾, Scorpius and Carina were both very excited about Hogwarts and Carina wished she could go with her brother when he started. Draco and Hermione brought the kids up learning about magic and teaching them how to act around Muggles. Hermione had gifted Scorpius with her copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ to bring along with him to school.

"Wow!" Scorpius looked around with wonder and quickly took his trolley from his father to push himself.

Draco and Hermione glanced at each other with a smile. The platform was bustling with parents and students of all houses. Hermione gripped her daughter's hand tighter as they made their way through. The last week had been hectic. They'd been able to get most of Scorpius' school supplies in Australia since the curriculum was the same, though he ended up taking a few of his mother's old books anyway that had her notes written in them. Hermione was disappointed to find out that Ollivander's had been taken over by another wandmaker so they opted to get Scorpius' wand from a wandmaker in Australia. It was made of Eucalyptus with a unicorn hair core. Hermione had taken Scorpius' measurements and sent them to Madam Malkin's daughter who now ran the business and his robes to were mailed, saving them a trip to Diagon Alley during the week that they busily moved into their new house.

She only hoped that she and Draco were forgotten enough about for the last two decades that they wouldn't be noticed or written about in the papers. As the children eagerly chatted about the Hogwarts Express, Hermione took the time to look around for any familiar faces.

She gasped softly when she saw a sea of red hair on the far side of the platform and quickly linked her arm with her husband's and turned her face in towards his.

"What's wrong, love?" Draco asked softly.

"I know we talked about the likeliness that Harry and the others have school aged children, but I don't want to see them," she whispered. "I don't want any confrontations, especially not for our children to see."

Draco looked around the crowd and frowned when he spotted what his wife had seen, only this time they were joined by the familiar mop of dark hair of a man wearing glasses. "Let's stay down this end with the kids," he suggested.

Finally they got to the place where Scorpius dropped his trolley off to be boarded on the train. He took his Tasmanian Masked Owl, Apus, and his carry on bag off the trolley. They still had about twenty minutes before Scorpius needed to leave.

They walked closer up the platform for where Scorpius would need to get on the train. Carina whined sadly knowing her brother would be leaving soon and Hermione reassuringly patted her blond curls. Both children had their father's hair color and their mother's brown eyes, but Carina also had her mother and her grandmother's bushy hair.

"Dad, look!" Scorpius said. "That kid is wearing Slytherin colors!"

"You know it's rude to point," Draco warned him and Scorpius quickly dropped his hand and he smiled at his son.

Draco and Hermione both knew that Scorpius was hoping to be a Slytherin like his father. But they were both hoping that his intelligence got him placed in Ravenclaw which was a more neutral house. They wanted Scorpius to be comfortable at Hogwarts and not judged because of his parents.

"Daddy," Carina whispered and tugged on her father's hand. "Why are those people giving us mean looks?"

"Who?" Draco asked, looking around. He frowned when she saw that the Weasleys had spotted them and were glaring. He tucked Carina protectively into his side. "Don't concern yourself with it."

"But someone's going over to mummy," Carina said.

Before Draco could warn his wife, Harry Potter appeared in front of her.

"H-Hermione?" Harry whispered. "Is it really you?"

Hermione turned shocked eyes on her childhood best friend. "H-Harry..." she couldn't stop the tears from forming. "Y-yes, it's me."

Harry adjusted his glasses. "It's been almost twenty years! I never thought I'd see you again! Where have you-"

"Who're you talking to?" a voice interrupted. A red-haired woman and little girl approached them.

"Ginny," Harry said, stepping aside for his wife and daughter. "Look who it is! It's Hermione!" he smiled.

Ginny looked her up and down and glared. "Oh, it's _you._"

"Yes, it's me," Hermione bristled at the younger witch's attitude.

It only got worse when Ron came over. "Lavender and I were wondering where you two went – wait, G-Granger?"

Hermione was hurt at her old friend's use of her last name. "Hello Ron, Ginny," she greeted politely despite the tension. "It's nice to see you all again."

Ginny scoffed and crossed her arms. "Can't say the same. And it's _Potter _to you."

"Yeah," Ron frowned. "How can you talk to us like we're friends again? You have no right; you were the one who abandoned us all for _him_."

"We really don't-" Harry started.

"I didn't abandon anyone for Draco!" Hermione replied defensively. "It was _you_ who turned your backs on _me!_ Just because I wanted to only be friends with you-"

"You're still a traitor," Ginny spat and took Harry's hand. "Come on, we don't need to waste our time on the likes of _her._"

Before Hermione could say anything she felt his presence next to her and gripped her husband's hand tightly for support.

"Mum?" Scorpius asked. "Who're you talking to?"

"Just...some old classmates of mine," Hermione sadly replied.

"_Malfoy,"_ Ron glared at him.

"Actually, I haven't gone by that name in years," Draco smugly replied.

"Oh, yes," another voice cut in as a blonde woman and two red-haired children, a boy and a girl, stood next to Ron. Hermione recognized from a badly glamored charm that a scar ran across her collarbone and knew it was Lavender. "I recall Miss Skeeter writing an article about your father disowning you for this slag."

Draco glared at Lavender. "Do not call my wife that; she's far from it."

"And don't you call _my_ wife that!" Ron said defensively as Lavender preened at her husband's protectiveness.

Draco snapped. "Are you losing your hearing? I didn't call her anything of the sort."

"But you indicated it!" Ron retorted.

"I did not," Draco narrowed his eyes at him. "Unless you regularly misinterpret things based on how someone looks at someone else while they're speaking to them."

Hermione rolled her eyes as the smug look Lavender gave her as if she was missing out on a good thing. She took the moment to study them all as Ron and Draco argued and Harry broke quickly broke it up. Neither Lavender nor Ron had aged well. Ron's hair was already thinning out and it looked like all the food he consumed over the years was finally catching up to him. Lavender dressed in clothing too tight for her and wore too much makeup and perfume. Harry on the other hand had hardly changed. He still looked the same as she remembered him, except just a bit older and wiser. Ginny only got prettier with age and the little girl next to her was the spitting image of her except she had Harry's eye color. Hermione frowned when she saw the little red-haired girl turn narrowed eyes on her own daughter. She was proud that Carina simply ignored the look.

"Actually, my last name is Granger," Draco said when the conversation came back to the topic of his last name and disinheritance. He shared a smirk with his son at the dumbfounded looks on Lavender and the Weasleys siblings' faces while Harry looked thoughtful about it.

"You're Harry Potter!" Carina said excitedly when Harry's hair blew to the side from the light breeze that blew through the platform and she saw his scar. "My mummy told me and my brother all about your heroic stories!"

"She did?" Harry gave a surprised look to Hermione.

"Of course I did, Harry," Hermione said softly as Draco placed a hand on her waist. "We made sure the children knew all the important things."

"So these are your children, huh?" Harry gazed down at Scorpius and Carina who were both staring up at him in awe. "They have your eyes."

"Just as she has yours," Hermione pointed out and the little girl by Ginny's side quickly turned her head away from Carina as if she were caught.

"What are your names?" Harry asked the kids.

"My name is Carina! I was named for a southern constellation! And this is my brother Scorpius, who was also named for a southern constellation but can also be seen in the north! And Scorpius also killed Orion who has a star named Bellatrix and-"

"You're rambling, honey," Hermione interrupted her softly with a smile.

"Oops, sorry!" Carina said and covered a hand over her mouth with a giggle.

"She does that when she gets nervous or excited, just as Scorpius starts listing off random facts from books like his mother does," Draco teased his son who blushed.

Harry laughed. "This is my daughter, Lily," he said and brought his daughter forward. "Lily, this is my old friend Hermione. Remember when I told you about my adventures with her and Uncle Ron?" Lily nodded. "Lily will be starting Hogwarts in two years."

"So will Carina," Hermione said.

Ron, Lavender, and Ginny were completely speechless at how Harry was conversing with the Grangers. They looked at Harry as if he had three heads.

"Come on, Harry, we can see Percy and his daughters over by the train," Ginny said.

"You go on ahead, I want to talk to Hermione for a moment," Harry waved them off. "I'll be over soon," he reassured them. When Ginny gave him a look he gave it right back. "Gin..."

"Fine," Ginny huffed and the three of them plus Lily stood and waited impatiently for Harry instead of leaving.

"Sorry about them," Harry said. "You know how Weasleys can hold grudges," he sent an amused look at his wife and best friend who only glared harder.

Hermione sighed. "We knew this would happen when we came back."

"Where have you been, anyway?" Harry asked. "It's like you completely disappeared without a trace."

"We've been in Australia the whole time," Draco answered. "We just moved back last week because we want the kids to experience Hogwarts."

"You've been in Australia the whole time? I guess that explains why your accents are slightly different. And I can understand that," he replied with a nod. "I have a son, Albus, who is starting his first year as well. And my eldest, James, is going into his third year. I'm guessing they're probably already on the train."

"Scorpius best be boarding the train as well," Draco said, checking the time that there was only ten minutes remaining.

"Yes, it was nice seeing you again, Harry," Hermione said.

"It was nice seeing you again as well; we should have tea together sometime. There's a good cafe in Diagon Alley now."

"Harry!" Ginny protested. "You are not going to associate yourself with-"

"Don't you finish that sentence, Ginny," Harry said sternly to his wife. "You both know how much I've missed Hermione over the years! I'm not letting this chance to pass by if she's okay with it. It's time to let bygones be bygones."

Ginny scowled at her husband and then at Hermione and Draco before storming away with Lily. Ron and Lavender followed behind her, sending them nasty looks until they were finally out of sight.

"Honestly," Harry sighed. "I know they've missed you just as much as I have, but they're just too damn stubborn to admit it," he turned back to Hermione. "I've missed you so much; it's never been the same without you, Hermione."

"Oh, Harry," she whispered and tears swelled up in her eyes again. "I've missed you, too!" and with a gentle nudge from her husband, Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry in a tight embrace.

Draco stood back and watched with his kids by his side. He would never like Potter or his friends and family, especially for the way they'd treated Hermione like a traitor, but he knew his wife needed this reconciliation. He let them have their moment.

"I hate to break up the reunion, but the train leaves in five minutes," Draco said.

Harry nodded. "I have to go see if James and Al are all set. I'll owl you about that tea, Hermione," he said with a wave and started off.

"Okay," she said.

They lead Scorpius to where he needed to board the train. More tears gathered in Hermione's eyes as she looked proudly down at her son. They said their goodbyes with Scorpius' promise to write as soon as possible. It took some effort to finally get Carina to let go of her brother so he could board the train. Scorpius quickly found a compartment and they waved to him until he was out of sight.

"It's going to be fine, love," Draco said.

Hermione smiled as he held their daughter's hand a wrapped an arm around her. She nodded again at Harry on the other side of the platform before she side-along Apparated with her husband and daughter.

A couple of days later, they received their first letter from Scorpius. Disappointingly for him, he'd been Sorted into Ravenclaw, but that's okay because he already met two new friends, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, Luna Lovegood's sons. And he also got along well with his Charms partner, Albus Severus Potter from Gryffindor who informed him he had special names as well.

**x-x-x-x-x**

**Note:** I purposely did write the Weasleys to be the way they were in this because I wanted to give the scenario a try. Also, I had recently had a discussion with a coworker about a man taking his wife's last name and thought it'd be interesting Dramione style.

**Names:** Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located both in the southern hemisphere and in the southern skies in the northern hemisphere. I borrowed the Orion thing from my other one shot "Choosing a Name". Carina is a southern constellation as well as Apus.


End file.
